The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – its origin and evolution, its impact on local government, and the rights and responsibilities it creates – will be the focus of discussions and panel presentations at Florida Institute of Technology’s 18th annual Business Ethics and Leadership Conference on Thursday in the Hartley Room at the Denius Student Center on the university’s Melbourne campus.

Sponsored by Harris Corp. and Community Credit Union and hosted by Florida Tech’s Nathan Bisk College of Business, the free, public event starts with registration and continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and concludes at 1 p.m.

Titusville artist Heidi Thamert recently won the 2018 Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation Art of Philanthropy Award at the 59th annual Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival. The art show is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious outdoor art festivals. More than 1,100 artists from around the world applied this year and an independent panel of judges selected 225 artists to exhibit their work.

Thamert is an award–winning photographer and co–owner of The Downtown Art Gallery in Titusville.

Thamert won for “Long After I’m Gone,” a black–and–white fine art photography, and “part of a series of working hands of well–lived, hard–working people.” She received $5,000 and an automatic entry into the 2019 Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival.

Her “Hands of Time” collection is on display at The Downtown Art Gallery, 335 S. Washington Ave. Titusville. For more information about her collection, call 321-268–0122 or visit TheDowntownArtGallery.com.

Florida Tech business and ethics conference

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution – its origin and evolution, its impact on local government, and the rights and responsibilities it creates – will be the focus of discussions and panel presentations at Florida Institute of Technology’s 18th annual Business Ethics and Leadership Conference Thursday in the Hartley Room at the Denius Student Center on the university’s Melbourne campus.

Sponsored by Harris Corp. and Community Credit Union and hosted by Florida Tech’s Nathan Bisk College of Business, the free, public event starts with registration and continental breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and concludes at 1 p.m.

Project Response Inc., a local nonprofit organization, recently announced the grand opening of the Project Response Testing and Treatment Center, specializing in HIV testing, prevention and treatment, as well as other infectious diseases. The public is invited to attend an open house from 4–7 p.m. on April 27 at Project Response Inc., 745–747 S. Apollo Blvd. in Melbourne.

Treatment at Project Response, founded in 1990 as a volunteer organization committed to meeting the emergency needs of people living with HIV/AIDS, is provided by a licensed infectious disease physician. The facility is open Monday through Friday.

Over the years, it has evolved into a professionally staffed medical case management agency providing services to more than 300 HIV positive clients living in Brevard County. The agency provides HIV/AIDS prevention education and HIV testing to a five–county area that includes Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, and Okeechobee counties.For more information about Project Response, or the upcoming open house, call Kate Kunert or Christine Hackford at 724–1177 or send an email to

chackford@projectreponse.org and refer to the open house in the subject line.

The chefs from Fishlips Waterfront Bar and Grill will be preparing shrimp locally sourced by Wild Ocean Seafood. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.propellerclubcanaveral.com, or by sending an email request to propellerclubcanaveral@gmail.com. Cost is $40 per person/$70 per couple for members, and $45 per person/$80 per couple for non-members. Scholarship Donor with VIP Parking tickets are available at $60 per person. Regular parking is free for this event.

Proceeds go toward the club’s community activities, including support for scholarships for Brevard high school seniors going into maritime-related professions, the Rockledge High School HELM Maritime Studies program, Port Canaveral’s Maritime Day and July 4 celebrations, Naval Sea Cadets, Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation, and the Canaveral Port Ministry.

For more information on the event call 321-698-5296.

To submit a Business Brief, contact Wayne T. Price at 321-242-3658 or wprice@floridatoday.com.